Monthly Archives: September 2007

"First Responders For Rudy" to manifest corporeally

From Greg Sargent’s August 29th piece on TPM’s Election Central:

ou may recall that some time ago Rudy Giuliani unveiled a group called “Firefighters for Rudy” in response to some heat he was taking from firefighters over the deficiencies they saw in his 9/11 performance. At the time, this blog noted that the group’s leader was merely a Rudy campaign aide and wouldn’t say how many firefighters were in this new “group.” Not much has been heard about the group since.

Now Rudy, who’s again under fire from recovery workers over his exaggerations about his Masterfully Churchillian Performance on 9/11, is pulling the same trick from his hat once again. Today his campaign plans to unveil “First Responders for Rudy” at a firehouse in South Carolina.

Giuliani To Unveil “First Responders For Rudy” at TPM  Election Central.

Via The Giuliani Papers.

Blogroll Addition: Ryan Lanham

We’ve run across the blog of one Ryan Lanham – another guy smart enough that you’re happy he’s a good guy. Which he manifestly seems to be. We’ll describe him here as a nouvelle social scientist – because we don’t know which flavor of social scientist he is for formal purposes.

Here’s Ryan Lanham’s wikipedia entry .

And his blog, Identity Unknown

We came across Mr. Lanham’s blog because we’re looking at open-source software solutions for emergency management – and he’s part of – or connected to – the group that’s been developing Sahana, an open-source NGO emergency-management application.

There are automobiles – more than one model – that have been tested in New York as taxis and police cars. We’re perversely proud that our streets are too barbaric for civilized cars. (Is it just me that feels this way?)

We’re hoping, of course, that  Sahana won’t crumble under the pressure of hypothetical Brooklyn emergencies. But we’re going to test it –

as well as SUMA   – a similar (in purpose) open-source application which is available via the Pan American Health Organization.

Finnish civil defense

Just beginning to learn about this – so here are a few interesting links

RockPlan – Finnish construction firm which, because they require it , builds shelters underneath buildings. Some images of some of their work

; they’d make James Bond’s film nemeses jealous.

And here ‘s the  Finnish government’s civil defense website.  Calm,  organized. Very clean lots-of-white-space design.  It’s not likely to be mistaken for  a U.S. government website.

Ernest Abbott and FEMA Law Associates

As our  blogroll has grown, I’ve been increasingly concerned that it isn’t  particularly useful as a research tool. So I’m going to try to write short introductions as we add links to the roll. While the posts won’t stay up – they’ll still be searchable via the archives.

Ernest B. Abbott is a former General Counsel at FEMA, and is the leader of a specialized practice called FEMA Law Associates.

From the firm’s website:

FEMA Law Associates provides legal and regulatory consulting services to help those who are eligible for FEMA assistance understand and navigate FEMA’s processes successfully. Key client groups that benefit most from the services of FEMA Law Associates are:

  • Government entities, public authorities, and such non-profit organizations as utilities, hospitals, and educational institutions that are eligible for FEMA assistance programs.

  • Vendors providing services funded directly or indirectly by FEMA programs.

  • Insurance companies participating in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program through the Write-Your-Own Arrangement.
  • Associations representing companies and institutions that are eligible for assistance under FEMA programs and are affected by FEMA’s regulatory and legislative initiatives.
  • Law firms and other service providers requiring specialized legal and regulatory advice on FEMA matters.

The set of attorneys with repeated experience dealing with FEMA is probably very small – since by definition FEMA dealings are often the result of unusual events – i.e. disasters.